Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The box pressed OZ Karatoba Robusto has a wrapper that is medium brown with some lighter marbling and lightly raised veins. The seams are smooth and the caps well applied. There are two bands, with the primary being black and rose gold and denoting the brand and line. The print isn’t all that crisp. The foot has a black band with the bar code, line and vitola information included. The aroma from the wrapper is a light mix of wood and earth while the foot brings bread, earth and some spice. The pre-light draw brings dry cedar and floral notes.
Seth: The OZ Karatoba Robusto is a good-looking cigar. It has a lovely press, and the bands pop off the dark Natural wrapper. The wrapper is predominately dark Natural with some dark Colorado marbling here and there. It has that dark tobacco and lovely roasted coffee bean color. The wrapper is silky and oily, sporting some tooth with small to medium sized veins. The cigar has a rich aroma on the foot of earth, cocoa and spices, while the wrapper has some tobacco, leather and spice notes.
John: The OZ Karatoba Robusto does not come in cellophane and has a UPC sticker attached to the black foot band that includes the cigar information. The cigar has the artisanal complication of a soft box press. I weighed the cigar at 13.6 grams and measured the humidity with the HumidiMeter Pro at 61.8%. Aromas from the wrapper included spicy wood, while from the foot, I was getting tobacco and hay at moderate levels.
Jiunn: The OZ Karatoba Robusto has a Colorado Red wrapper color on this downcast day. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll even and the head is well wrapped and capped. Pre-light aromas consist of barnyard and minerals.

OZ Karatoba Robusto

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with toasted cedar, earth, baking spice and some mustiness. At a half inch in, the baking spice transitions to black pepper. The retrohale is toasted cedar, earth, dull black pepper and some mustiness. At an inch in, the black pepper has a very long and bold finish. As the third comes to a close, the toasted cedar and earth are even up front, with black pepper in the middle of the profile and some mustiness in the back half. The black pepper still shows a very long finish. The strength was slightly above medium.
Seth: The first third opens with lovely cedar and sweet spice notes. There are some baking spice and pepper notes present. I am picking up some leather, earth and fruit stew qualities as well. The finish is that of tobacco and herbs, and I would classify the cigar as medium in strength and body.
John: The first third gets going with a combination of herbs and wood, followed by mild spices. The finish is a mix of dry wood, earth and herbs which linger into the post draw. As the first third settles in, chocolate moves into the center of the retrohale and combines with the spices. A general tobacco sweetness underpins the profile as it continues.
Jiunn: The first third shows a plethora of toastiness and minerals. There’s toasted cedar wood, toasted bread and all the flavors in general feel like it’s been touched by flame. There’s also a unique spice in which I can’t exactly pinpoint but it has the vibes of anise. Retrohaling gives the right amount of spice via dried red pepper spice. The finish is short with just a quick hit of cedar wood. Strength and body is medium.

OZ Karatoba Robusto

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, the finish of the black pepper has mellowed quite a bit. At a quarter inch in, a light creaminess joins the profile. At a half inch in, the black pepper increases a bit. The retrohale is now toasted cedar and earth along with some black pepper. At an inch and a quarter. The black pepper mellows a bit. As the third comes to a close, the toasted cedar and earth are even up front, with black pepper in the middle and some creaminess and mustiness in the back half. The strength remained at slightly above medium.
Seth: The second third is fairly in line with the first. Stewed fruits with cedar and sweet spices. Pepper, leather and earth present as well with a finish of tobacco and herbs. The cigar is more medium-full in strength in this third, while the body remains at a medium level.
John: The second third opens with creamy herbal spices, with wood and mildly dry wood finishing into the post draw. There’s a general dryness to the profile from both the herbal component and the wood. Earth joins the post draw and begins to take over along with the dryness through the bottom half.
Jiunn: The second third is very similar to the first third. Still shows a highly toasty and mineral combination. The only difference is the pepper spice of the retrohales now shows up on mouth draws. Strength and body remains medium.

OZ Karatoba Robusto

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, the earth takes a slight lead in the profile. The retrohale remains toasted cedar and earth along with some black pepper. At three quarters of an inch in, the black pepper increases to just behind the toasted cedar. At an inch and a quarter, the earth, toasted cedar and black pepper are now all even up front. As the cigar wraps up, the toasted cedar, earth and black pepper are even up front with some creaminess and mustiness in the back half. The strength bumped up to medium-full.
Seth: The final third is darker than the second third. The cigar is more medium-full in strength and body in this third. Dark baking spices with black and white pepper. Some mineral notes are present as well with seasoned wood, tobacco and herbs.
John: The last third starts with creamy tannic wood, finishing with dry and tannic wood. The post draw is completely dominated by dry wood and herbs as it approaches the halfway point.
Jiunn: The final third gives sharper versions of the first two thirds. Most notably, the toasted and mineral characters all have a rougher and sharper edge to them. Strength and body finishes the same medium.

OZ Karatoba Robusto

Burn

Aaron: The burn was straight throughout and the ash held on in inch and a half increments.
Seth: The burn was perfect from start to finish.
John: The burn was razor straight through the entire review process.
Jiunn: Burn performance was great with an even burn, tight ashes and cool burning temperatures.

OZ Karatoba Robusto

Draw

Aaron: The draw was perfect with just the right amount of resistance that I prefer.
Seth: The draw was great throughout.
John: I measured the draw at 33 inches of water with the CigarMedics draw machine. Subjectively, I found the draw to be at most ½ to 1 notch towards the open spectrum, which puts it in the ideal range for an amazing draw.
Jiunn: The draw was great as well, giving the ideal balance between air flow and resistance.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with toasted cedar, earth, baking spice and some mustiness. The baking spice later transitioned to black pepper. Then, the black pepper was showing a long, bold finish. The second third saw the black finish mellow a fair amount. Some creaminess then joined in. Later, the black pepper increased a bit, then mellowed some time later. The final third saw the earth take a slight lead in the profile. Later, the black pepper increased a fair amount and then the pepper, earth and toasted cedar were all even up front. Construction was absolutely perfect. The OZ Karatoba Robusto had an average flavor profile throughout. It was mainly focused around the toasted cedar and earth, with the black pepper playing a supporting role until it picked up in the final third. Not a cigar I’d really see myself coming back to.
Seth: I really liked this OZ Karatoba Robusto until the final third. I am not sure if it would smoke better in a larger blend or smaller blend, but I am interested in trying further vitolas. I loved the Sumatra offering on the cigar in the first two thirds, and it had that dark Sumatra profile I enjoy. The burn and draw were great from start to finish, and it had a nice body and strength level. I am very happy OZ teamed up with NACSA on this release. I like this direction for the company.
John: The OZ Karatoba Robusto started out promising with herbs, wood, chocolate and a nice tobacco sweetness, but the profile quickly began to dry out as it progressed. By the final third, the cigar was dominated by dry wood and herbs, which left the overall balance lacking. Construction was flawless with a straight burn and excellent draw. While the cigar delivered some interesting moments early on, it wasn’t able to maintain them through the remainder of the experience. Total smoking time 1 hour and 41 minutes.
Jiunn: Overall experience was average. While having a highly toasted and mineral profile is fine, it tasted too much of that and made me less engaged. It would have been nice to taste more of the flavor spectrum. The OZ Karatoba Robusto is not a bad cigar but not something I’ll be eager/interested to return to.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.75

Cost/Point

$2.09

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

6.67

Cost/Point

$1.80

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

5.75

Cost/Point

$2.09

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

5.75

Cost/Point

$2.09

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: OZ Karatoba Robusto